Abstract: A tachometer roller for a tape drive assembly for detecting the speed of a tape moving along a reference axis when the tape is in contact with the roller. The roller includes a cylinder extending in a longitudinal axis and adapted to be fixed in a tape drive assembly for rotation along the reference axis. The periphery of the cylinder defines an air vent running obliquely to the longitudinal axis for venting of air captured between the periphery and the tape. The vent preferably is a helical thread groove wound about the cylinder periphery.

Abstract: A melt-away mandrel is disclosed for use in an isostatic pressing process and a flexible sleeve is disclosed for use with the melt-away mandrel. The mandrel is used during pressing of compactible material and then the mandrel is melted away leaving the compacted part. Preferably the sleeve covers the mandrel and this assembly is loaded along with a material charge in a cold isostatic pressing apparatus. The sleeve protects the powder charge from contamination from the material of the mandrel. The isostatic pressing process for forming an uncontaminated part includes assembling the melt-away mandrel in the flexible sleeve, placing the sleeve and mandrel assembly in a containment vessel with the material charge, and submitting the material charge and sleeve and mandrel assembly to pressure for compacting the material charge against the sleeve. After the mandrel is melted, the sleeve is peeled away from the pressed material.

Abstract: A cold isostatic pressing method and apparatus using fluid pressure to compact a material charge held in a flexible mold, including a hard die placed inside the mold, the die defining a receiver which has a longitudinal axis, at least one tooling member and a material charge placed in the receiver, such that when the hard die, tooling member and charge are sealed in the mold, pressure applied to the sealed mold will force the tooling member and the charge together to cause uniaxial compaction of the charge in the receiver along the longitudinal axis of the receiver. Preferably the charge is compacted between at least two tooling members. The charge also may be simultaneously compacted transverse to the longitudinal axis by a lateral tooling member.

Abstract: A method for eliminating echos in modems used for full-duplex data communication is disclosed. The technique improves the cancellation of the echos by synthesizing an estimate of the desired signal and subtracting this estimate from the received waveform to improve the estimate of the residual echo. An adaptive filter is used to match the transmitted bit pattern to make an estimate of the frequency offset in the far echo, so that it can be cancelled more accurately.

Abstract: Shock absorbing missile launch pad for Mx type missiles having molded ethylene propylene diene terpolymer composition. Pad has curved resilient rubber pad with a Teflon-fiberglass laminate bonded to outer convex surface thereof, and has a support plate bonded to the inner concave surface thereof. Springs are provided to urge pad away from missile at launch to prevent damage to missile.

Abstract: Novel apparatus and methods for magnetic resonance imaging are disclosed which improve imaging speed and resolution as well as increase efficiency, particularly in superconducting systems. In one aspect of the invention, it has been discovered that the eddy currents and harmonics which normally interfere with MRI operations can be suppressed by the construction of an active shield about the gradient-forming components of the system. The active shield, for example, can be implemented by another set of coils, placed between the gradient coils and the cryostat in a superconducting MRI system to zero particular harmonics and prevent eddy currents in the cryostat shells. By employing a set of active secondary coils the problems associated with eddy currents induced by the gradient producing coils are substantially controlled.

Abstract: A new type of infrared reflectance device is disclosed to provide a quantitative evaluation of skin pallor. The instrument is designed to produce a measurement proportional to the percentage of infrared reflectance of the skin. In one embodiment, it consists of a miniature GaAs light emitting diode, which provides a pulsed infrared light source, a silicon photodiode detector, and processing circuitry. The device electronics are temperature compensated and are designed to respond only to the pulsed component of the detector output and to reject components due to stray light from external sources. The wavelength is chosen such that the measurement is relatively insensitive to the level of blood oxygenation and melanin pigment in the skin.

Abstract: A very small, very flexible, high-quality, linear predictive vocoder has been implemented with commercially available integrated circuits. This fully digital realization is based on a distributed signal processing architecture employing three commercial Signal Processing Interface (SPI) single chip microcomputers. One SPI implements a linear predictive speech analyzer, a second implements a pitch analyzer while the third implements the excitation generator and synthesizer.

Abstract: This invention consists of the production of a salt of acyl phosphate in an aqueous solution by a process which involves (1) acylation of phosphoric acid (H.sub.3 PO.sub.4) with an acid anhydride of the general formula RCOX, where R can be hydrogen or a lower alkyl or aryl group having from 1 to 10 carbon atoms, and X can be a leaving group of the general formula OR, OCOR, X or NR.sub.2, followed by (2a) extraction of acyl phosphate to water by treatment of the reaction mixture with an aqueous bicarbonate or hydroxide solution or other basic aqueous solution, if the reaction is carried out in non-aqueous solvent or (2b) in the case where water has been used as reaction solvent acidification with acid or acid form of a carbon exchange resin.

Abstract: A hand control capable of suppressing tremors and other unwanted vibrations is disclosed which incorporates viscous damping in two degrees of freedom to mechanically filter the forces applied by the user's hand. To suppress pathological intention tremors, the damping characteristics are chosen so as to selectively reduce the amplitude of movements at or above about 3 Hertz. The hand control includes a chamber filled with a viscous fluid, a position-sensing actuator assembly and a damping element connected to the actuator and disposed within the chamber to suppress involuntary movements of the actuator. The volume of the chamber, size of the damping element and viscosity of the fluid are chosen to achieve a damping constant of about 2 to 20 lbf-sec/ft., preferably from about 5 to about 15 lbf-sec/ft. The viscous fluid is preferably a silicone oil having a viscosity of about 300,000 to about 900,000 cstokes.

Abstract: A method of suppressing a nonsense codon in a gene in a mammalian cell by preparing an oligonucleotide primer having a mismatched anticodon region corresponding to the nonsense codon; preparing a DNA template for production of a tRNA molecule enabling the insertion of an amino acid when the nonsense codon is translated; forming a suppressor gene from said template and primer by site specific mutagenesis; and transforming the suppressor gene into the cell.

Abstract: A radar signal processor which operates without clutter canceller and AGC circuits by applying an adaptive weighting circuit which adjusts the FFT weighting function on a range gate basis to account for clutter in that range gate. An input buffer determines Log.sub.2 values per range gate for use in the weighting operation and a normalization circuit scales the weighted FFT output to facilitate post-processing.

Abstract: A novel route to the manufacture of substituted polyacetylenes is disclosed in which polyacetylene is first reduced to render it n-type conductor and then treated with an organic halide to form an organic-substituted polyacetylene.

Abstract: A programmable non-volatile memory cell is disclosed that can be written into the "1," "0," or "previous" state in the presence of unfocused illumination, preferrably ultraviolet (UV) light. The programmed state is controlled by low electrical voltages. Once the illumination is removed the programmed state is non-volatile. The memory cell can be fabricated using conventional MOS processing techniques with no additional mask steps. The cell can thus be implemented on virtually all silicon gate nMOS and CMOS processes.

Abstract: A telescoping low vibration pulling mechanism for use in Czochralski crystal growth apparatus, comprising a broached bushing which defines an internal circumference of teeth therein, which teeth cooperate with complimentary teeth defined on the circumference of a splined shaft. The bushing is coupled to a motor drive via a hollow tube and the splined shaft, couplable to a seed shaft and an elevation assembly, telescopes through said bushing within said hollow tube.

Abstract: The invention is a method for obtaining a chimeric plasmid which can serve as a vector for inserting one or more foreign or native genes into Corynebacterium and a second species of bacteria. The plasmid is the ligation product of plasmid DNA from Corynebacterium as well as plasmid DNA from a non-Corynebacterium species of bacteria. Also disclosed is a method for forming protoplasts from Corynebacterium organisms and transforming the protoplasts with vectors, e.g., the chimeric plasmids of the invention.

Abstract: Dislocation densities are reduced in growing semiconductors from the vapor phase by employing a technique of interrupting growth, cooling the layer so far deposited, and then repeating the process until a high quality active top layer is achieved. The method of interrupted growth, coupled with thermal cycling, permits dislocations to be trapped in the initial stages of epitaxial growth.

Abstract: A harness formation end-effector comprising a housing disposed for cooperable receipt and retention of a removable tool tip, wherein the tool tip may take the form of a contact insertion tool tip or a crimping tool tip or the like.

Abstract: A miniaturized ellipsometric testing device having a laser for precisely impinging a prescribed beam of light upon a surface to be tested and a detector for capturing the reflected impinged beam only within prescribed limits. The value of the reflected impinged beam, which is transmissible to the detector, is used in determination of the validity of the surface tested; the miniaturized device is couplable to the laser light source and the detector by fiber optic cables.

Abstract: The detector includes a focusing lens for focusing pulsed laser light reflected from an object onto a fiber optic array. The fiber optic array is configured to receive a two-dimensional image from the focusing lens and to convert the two-dimensional image into a line image. A streak camera responsive to light from the fiber optic array provides time resolution for the light from each of the fibers in the array. A two-dimensional detector records the light output from the streak camera and electronics store data and process information to construct three-dimensional images.